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She gave him the directions to the nail shop and tried to tidy herself as much as possible on the car ride over.
“Is there someone I should give my man card to on the way in?”
“Lots of men get pedicures,” she said as they entered.
Adam looked up and down the long row of massage chairs, all filled with women. “I don’t see any.”
“Well, maybe not right this second. I meant, in general. It’s all the rage for the sophisticated, modern man.”
“Yeah, I’m very much okay with not being that hip,” he said dryly.
They settled into two chairs next to each other, and after she picked up the controller to start her massage chair, she did the same for his. He hastily followed her lead, taking off his shoes and socks, pulling his pants up to his knees, and putting his feet into the hot water. After the initial shock, he laid his head back and closed his eyes.
“See, it’s relaxing, right?”
“Sh. I’m going to my happy place to pretend this isn’t happening. Tell me when it’s over.”
Kate picked a deep red nail polish, while Adam opted to go au naturel. After pedicures, they hit a drive-thru and ended up at her place.
“Today was a great way to blow off some steam and relax,” she said. “I didn’t realize how much I needed a day off. Thanks.”
“I had fun too.” He walked her to the door and waited while she unlocked it.
“Even though this wasn’t a date…Did you want to come in?” she asked.
“Yes. But doyouwant me to come in?” He smiled.
Did she? Yes, and no. She knew what would happen if he did, and while she wasn’t necessarily opposed to that, she’d been giving more and more thought to whether it was going to be possible for her heart to come out of this unscathed. The closer they got, the lower the odds of not getting hurt. One more night couldn’t hurt. Plus, he had the bag of tacos.
“Okay. But I need to shower before we do anything.”
“I could help with that.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Now that their business was complete, Kate had deemed it okay to be seen in public together and had invited Adam to her folks’ house for a barbecue that Sunday. He didn’t know what to expect when he arrived, but it certainly wasn’t a pink-haired crazy lady telling fortunes using tarot cards. She wore a T-shirt that said, “The chains on my mood swing just snapped—Run!”
The front door had been wide open, so he’d let himself in. Kate met him in the living room with an apology. “I’m warning you now, my grandma has had a little wine and is in rare form today. You sure you’re up for this?”
“It can’t be that bad,” he said. “Plus, I can smell the burgers from here. You look gorgeous, by the way.” He pushed her into the hallway and up against the wall, kissing her quickly and thoroughly.
“Ahem,” said a voice behind them.
Adam and Kate jumped apart.
“Oh. Hi, Nana,” Kate said, swiping at her lips.
“Who’s your friend, darling?” Nana asked, doing nothing to hide a slow up-and-down perusal of Adam and raising her eyebrows.
“Adam, my grandmother, Audrey Parker.”
“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” Adam said.
“Enchanté,” she said with a coy smile and a curtsy. “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone, Katie.”
“I’m not,” Kate said. “Adam is a client.”
“Client of what, dear? Are you running a side business as a lady of the night I wasn’t informed about?”
